stonecrandall Chapter 196 The Great Fire That Connected Everything
Chapter 196 The Great Fire That Connected Everything
Chapter 196 The Fire That Connects Everything
"That's right, it's because of that accident that we have such a perfect ending. Don't you think so, Hideaki? Say something."
The speaker was named Nagato Mitsuaki, the husband of Nagato Yasue, the son-in-law of the Nagato family, and also an insider of the incident from back then, another arsonist, and someone who knew that Nagato Hideomi had committed suicide by poisoning himself yesterday.
Even today, Hinata Yuki impersonated Nagato Hideomi, cooperated with him to assassinate President Nagato, and then pinned everything on the already dead Nagato Hideomi—this was a plan the two of them had discussed.
In Akutagawa Hiko's eyes, who knew everything, the way this person was going to die was no less terrible than that of the arrogant and domineering young lady.
Nagato Mitsuaki gave a mocking smile, swaggered into the room, took out a gift box and handed it to President Nagato, who was lying on the bed: "Father-in-law, I wish you boundless happiness and longevity."
Akutagawa Hiko felt that the blessing was rather perfunctory, quite formulaic, and showed no concern for President Nagato's illness. Even the subsequent assassination attempt revealed how perfunctory this blessing of "May your happiness be as boundless as the Eastern Sea and your longevity as enduring as the Southern Mountain" was.
President Nagato accepted the gift, seemingly pleased with the junior's concern, even if it wasn't entirely heartfelt:
Thank you.
The ambitious son-in-law leaned closer and said in a tone that seemed joking but was actually full of sincerity, "If you really want to thank me, why don't you give me the chairman's seat? That would make me truly happy."
That's quite blunt; he's asking for it as soon as he opens his mouth.
After Nagato Mitsuaki left, Hattori Heizo glanced at his watch. He wasn't exactly a leisurely person; while he wouldn't call himself a workaholic, it was already quite an achievement that he could stay here for even a short time.
Hattori Heiji broke free from his father's grasp and perked up instantly after seeing him leave. He approached Akutagawa Hiko, who was also walking out, wanting to discuss the upcoming competition with him, but unexpectedly saw two figures, one tall and one short, simultaneously lost in thought.
Conan pushed up his increasingly thin but still functionally perfect black-rimmed glasses and asked Akutagawa Hiko beside him with some uncertainty, "Is he disguising himself?"
Heiji Hattori thought Conan was making a fuss over nothing. It's perfectly normal for someone to be disfigured after being burned in a fire and to use bandages for some kind of disguise.
Kids will be kids; their focus always tends to wander off easily.
That was his original thought, until he saw Akutagawa Hiko nod seriously.
He had experienced firsthand how keen Akutagawa Hiko's observational skills were during his visit to that diplomat's house; it was simply unbelievable that he could discover the perpetrator in such an environment.
Now, we should carefully examine all of Akutagawa Hiko's actions, and we may discover some things that we had not noticed before.
Akutagawa Hiko naturally noticed Hattori Heiji, who was looking puzzled and wondering if he had missed some important clue. Since Conan had already figured it out, he wouldn't make things difficult for this Osaka Black Chicken who hadn't been upgraded yet.
"That Mr. Hideomi just now—well, let's call him 'Mr.'—he was wearing some disguise, so he probably wasn't Mr. Hideomi himself—"
Conan nodded. Because of Kaito Kid and the Thousand-Faced Witch he learned about by chance from Ai, he had a deep understanding of disguise and the like, and had even consulted Yukiko.
"Although he can't compare to Kidd, because his face is covered and you're not familiar with him, it's naturally not easy to spot him. Besides, you probably haven't encountered an opponent like Kidd before, so that's a weakness."
Heiji Hattori didn't doubt Akutagawa's analysis, but he was very dissatisfied with Akutagawa's unhurried attitude: "Then what are we waiting for? Let's hurry up and chase after them. Once we catch them and question them, we'll know everything."
Akutagawa looked speechlessly at the flustered Hattori and said, "What I'm thinking about now is whether President Nagato knows about this, and what he thinks if he does."
Based on our brief time together, President Nagato appears to be a head of the household who cares deeply for his family and seems to have a considerable understanding of each member, which is a basic quality a company president should possess.
If you don't even understand your family, how can you understand the company's key personnel, and be a good guide and helmsman?
Judging from President Nagato's expression just now, he had obviously discovered that his son was being impersonated, and may even have guessed who the person impersonating his son was. I wonder how much this president has guessed.
He's not a detective, so he doesn't really need to talk about evidence; having suspicions is enough.
"Then now—"
Akutagawa Hiko turned to look at the room and said, "I'm waiting for an opportunity. I want to have a private talk with President Nagato."
The opportunity came quickly, and everyone went out to prepare a surprise banquet. Even the Mori father and daughter, who were guests, helped out.
It wasn't that I was interested in the wine in the Nagato family's wine cabinet; it was just that on such a festive day, my mood naturally improved, and I felt like I should do some work.
While the others were out of the room, Akutagawa Hiko, accompanied by two detectives, knocked on President Nagato's door and entered after hearing a "Come in."
"Excuse me, President Nagato, we have some questions for you."
When Nagato Dosan saw the three of them, he waved them enthusiastically and gestured for them to sit on the edge of the bed: "Oh, it's you great detectives! Ask me anything you want to ask. We'll have to rely on you for today's matter."
Seeing this, Akutagawa Hiko didn't mince words: "First of all, it's about Miss Hinata's pen. Although it's said to be her father's heirloom, I noticed something's off about your expression. It seems like you recognize that pen."
Not only did President Nagato's expression change, but Hattori and Conan also looked at him in surprise.
Weren't we just talking about someone impersonating Nagato Hideomi? How did we suddenly switch to Hinata-san's pen? And how did you even notice the president's expression at that time? That takes real self-control.
At that moment, they were completely absorbed by Nagato Nobuko and did not notice the change in their employer's expression at all.
President Nagato sighed, somewhat helplessly: "To my shame, if my deceased wife knew, she would probably be furious and tear my ear apart when I went to be with her."
After chuckling twice, President Nagato said with some regret, "That was a gift I gave to Hinata's mother, who was also the first love I asked Detective Mouri to find. I remember it very clearly because the design was very unique, but it seems that Hinata treated it as her father's keepsake."
"Miss Hinata and her mother were both unfortunate. In that fire, Miss Hinata lost both her parents..."
That fire!!
Conan and Hattori simultaneously recalled Hinata Sachi's words.